They played games, ran relays, planted marigolds, chowed down on sandwiches and popsicles, and had the kind of fun that a broad green field always promises to youngsters.
For roughly 400 students from LEARN Excel, a charter elementary school on Chicago’s West Side, the hours they spent at Northfield’s Fox Meadow field Tuesday was a chance at the type of outdoor fun that’s hard to come by in their East Garfield Park neighborhood.
The field day was sponsored by the Winnetka Family Partnership, planned and carried out by a group that included teens from New Trier High School and North Shore Country Day School.
Winnetka resident Billy Crimmins served on the board of 10 teens and eight adults that organized this year’s event, but he’s been involved as a volunteer for each of the nine years the field day has taken place, he said.
“It makes me happy to see all the kids working with the volunteers,” the recent New Trier graduate said. “The young ones are cute. If they’ve never come before, it’s great to see how they react. A lot of the kids have come before, and they really look forward to it and remember a lot of the volunteers.”
LEARN Excel principal Sekou Robertson said his students have loved their North Shore field trips every year.
“It’s always so well organized, and they always come back exhausted from having a good time,” he said.
Sharanda Morehead, the school’s resident principal, agreed.
“The best part of this is giving them the opportunity to have a safe space where they can play, an opportunity to be kids in a safe environment,” Morehead said.
Crimmins’ mother, Heather Crimmins, said the teens work hard to create each year’s games and events.
She said the field day is just one aspect of the Winnetka Family Partnership’s long-time support for LEARN Excel; the group has also raised funds for the k-8 school, and members have provided tutoring services.
Crimmins said each year’s field day – the last few have been at New Trier High School’s Northfield campus, but the location was changed this year because of ongoing construction there – also enjoys support from organizations that help supply lunches and snacks for the youngsters.
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As the 2018 field day drew to a close, Lailah Smith, Damian Kinsey and Mateo Collazo finished off their popsicles before boarding buses to take them home. Lailah was a field day veteran, since she’d gone to several of them, she explained. She was showing the others the ropes.
What did they like best? The three talked over each other in an attempt to delineate their favorite activities.
“It’s all good, it’s all fun,” Mateo said.
